Iran To Establish Naval Base In Indian Ocean By March 2021 To Counter Anglo-American Diego Garcia Base

The Greatgame India
June 23, 2020

Iran has announced its intention to establish a permanent Naval Base in the Indian Ocean by March next year. The commander of the Naval Forces, Ali Reza Tungsiri, said that the Guards have directives from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to be present on the high seas permanently.

Iran has announced its intention to establish a permanent Naval Base in the Indian Ocean by 2021.Iranian fishermen and merchant ships were exposed to harassment by pirates in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean, says Commander of the Iranian Naval Forces
Permanent presence of the guards in those areas would prevent any future attacks according to the official.Iran possesses the strategic port of Chabahar on the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Sea of ​​Oman.The port is intended to provide an alternative for trade between India and Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan’s Karachi port.However, India’s involvement in the port infrastructure development has been minimal due to American sanctions. The Iranian presence in the Indian Ocean is also seen as a counter to the Anglo-American base at Diego Garcia


Diego Garcia is the key launchpad for western powers in case of an attack on Iran – which is beyond the range of Iranian ballistic missilesThe Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced its intention to establish a permanent military base in the Indian Ocean by next March, with the aim of providing security in the waters of the Gulf of Oman and the ocean, and protecting fishermen and merchant ships from piracy.


The commander of the Naval Forces, Ali Reza Tungsiri, said that the Guards have directives from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to be present on the high seas permanently.
In a press statement, Tungsiri said that the Iranian Army and Revolutionary Guards have previously sent fleets to the high seas, stressing that other future fleets will be sent.

The military official pointed out that Iranian fishermen and merchant ships were exposed to harassment by pirates in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean, stressing that the permanent presence of the guards in those areas would prevent any future attacks. It is noteworthy to mention that Iran possesses the strategic port of Chabahar on the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Sea of ​​Oman, but its development suffers from difficulties due to the U.S. sanctions on Tehran.


Development of the port was first proposed in 1973 by the last Shah of Iran, though development was delayed by the 1979 Iranian Revolution. India and Iran first agreed to plans to further develop Shahid Beheshti port in 2003, but did not do so on account of sanctions against Iran.

In May 2016, India and Iran signed a bilateral agreement in which India would refurbish one of the berths at Shahid Beheshti port, and reconstruct a 600 meter long container handling facility at the port. The port is partly intended to provide an alternative for trade between India and Afghanistan as it is 800 kilometers closer to the border of Afghanistan than Pakistan’s Karachi port.

In July 2016, India began shipping US$150 million worth of rail tracks to Chabahar to develop the port container tracks and build US$1.6 billion Chabahar–Zahedan railway built by India’s Ircon International. In October 2017, India’s first shipment of wheat to Afghanistan was sent through the Chabahar Port. In December 2018, India took over the port’s operations.

Despite intentions, India’s involvement in the infrastructure development within Iran has been minimal, due to the western pressure to apply sanctions.

The Iranian presence in the Indian Ocean is also seen as a counter to the Anglo-American base at Diego Garcia. The Indian Ocean island Naval Base of Diego Garcia is the key launchpad for western powers in case of an attack on Iran. In in the wake of the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike, Pentagon sent six B-52 strategic bombers to military base on Diego Garcia that is beyond the range of Iran’s ballistic missiles to prepare to hit Tehran if given the order.


Reference: https://greatgameindia.com/iran-indian-ocean-naval-base/


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India Joins Russia in Voting Against West-Backed Move to Expand Powers of OPCW

The Wire: June 28, 2018 New Delhi: India voted against a UK-backed move that will allow the global chemical weapons watchdog to apportion blame for illegal attacks, criticising the decision to grant “unchecked powers” to the head of the group which could be used for “partisan” purposes. On Wednesday, more than two-thirds of the member states of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) voted to authorise the international body to identify the perpetrators and sponsors of a chemical weapons attack. It also specifically called on the OPCW’s technical secretariat to begin work on identifying the perpetrators behind the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The draft decision, sponsored by 30 countries, was adopted at the fourth special session of the conference of the states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention at the Hague, with 82 in favour and 24 negative votes. While Europe, the United States and their allies voted ‘yes’, there was strong oppo...
Read more

As financial insecurity rises in urban India, so does investment in insurance

Image
Scroll.in March 13, 2020 Urban Indians are becoming less confident about their financial security. Up to 58% of them fret over financial independence post retirement, which is a 4% increase from last year. An equal share of urban Indians worry about meeting their daily medical expenses and sustaining their current lifestyle once they stop working. The findings are part of a survey published by Delhi-based Max Life Insurance in association with London-based consultancy Kantar. The firms surveyed 7,014 respondents in 25 cities, including six metros, nine tier-1 cities, and 10 tier-2 cities, between December 2019 and January 2020. Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz The trends Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz A significant share of urban Indians also say their families will have no financial support in the event of the breadwinner’s death. In such a scenario, around 57% believe the family sav...
Read more

ED tracks Swiss Bank A/Cs of Agusta scamster

The Poineer February 10,2019 Rakesh K Singh The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has tracked a dozen Swiss bank accounts in the name of Rajiv Saxena, who is key accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. The ED has also found out accounts held by  his family members and associates where the kickbacks in the now scrapped deal were allegedly parked. Two bank accounts are in the name of Rajiv Saxena’s  associates Pankaj Jain and Sumita Jain who are also the authorised signatories. The  third is in the name of another associate Ajit Singh Bubber, but Rajiv and his family members are authorised signatories. The remaining nine accounts are largely owned and operated by Rajiv, his family members and associates. Rajiv Saxena was deported by the UAE authorities on January 30 and the ED formally arrested him the next day and a court later granted his remand to the agency. He is currently undergoing custodial interrogation by the ED. The agency had in 2017...
Read more